Never on Sunday?

Germany wrestles with its
"store closing law"

by Paul Kieffer
August 20, 1999

August 1, 1999, was an historic day for
Berlin's Alexander Square in what used to
be showcase real estate in the center of
the former communist city of East Berlin. A
symbolic bastion of "West German"
capitalism, the Kaufhof department store
opened its doors at precisely "high noon"
– 12 o'clock. Hundreds of shoppers
waiting outside poured into the store and
began making their purchases. By the time
Kaufhof closed its doors some five hours
later, an estimated 50,000 people had
visited the store. This historic event had
nothing to do with the debut of a new store
– this Kaufhof store has been there
for several years now. History was made
because August 1 was a Sunday!

On the same day over 100,000 shoppers
were making their rounds in Leipzig, south
of Berlin, as stores in the inner city
there also opened on Sunday. Although
stores were open only during the afternoon
hours, store managers and shop owners
reported sales proceeds from Sunday's short
shopping spree as much as 20 percent higher
than on a normal workday with its longer
hours.

For readers in countries like the United
Kingdom and the United States, this news
item might seem a bit strange. After all,
Sunday-shopping in many countries is the
rule, not the exception. But not here in
Germany, where the
"Ladenschlußgesetz" ("store closing
law"), first enacted in post-war Germany in
1956 and last revised in 1996, prescribes
store closings from Monday through Friday
at 8 p.m. and on Saturday at 4 p.m. Sunday
exceptions generally are permitted only for
emergency services (police, ambulance
services) and for tourist-related
businesses like restaurants, souvenir
shops, gas stations and the public
transport system.

Kaufhof claimed to abide by the letter
of the Ladenschlussgesetz by having
cashiers attach "Berlin souvenir" stickers
to all items purchased, even though most
shoppers were thought to be from Berlin and
were shopping on Sunday because it was a
novelty, and for some, also more convenient
than on a regular workday.

The "Third" Commandment
in Today's Business World

The current Ladenschlussgesetz draws its
philosophical underpinning from the
observance of the "Third" Commandment, as
the Ten Commandments are counted in the
Catholic and Lutheran churches, Germany's
two largest churches. (The Sabbath
commandment as the third dates primarily
back to Augustine, who combined the First
and Second Commandments into one and then
split the tenth into two separate ones,
both of which prohibit different aspects of
covetousness.)

Historical references readily admit that
Roman Emperor Constantine declared Sunday,
the first day of the week, to be the
official Christian day of rest. In a legal
sense Sunday is now the "seventh" day of
the week, having been introduced as a
"German industry standard" ("DIN")
January 1, 1976. Calendars printed in Germany show
Sunday as the seventh day of the week. (See
"First Day of the Week?" below.)

Since 1891 Sunday work in general has
been prohibited in Germany by law, although
the legislation enacted at the time was
probably more a victory for social
democratic thought and unionism over
capitalism than a victory for perceived
biblical righteousness.

In today's Germany a paragraph adapted
from the prewar Weimar Constitution
provides constitutional status for Sunday
as a day of rest from work: "Sunday and
state recognized holidays enjoy legal
protection as days of rest from work"
(paragraph 139). In decisions rendered in
1992 and 1995 Germany's Supreme Court in
Karlsruhe confirmed that employers have the
constitutional obligation "to protect the
rest from work on Sunday and holidays."

However, time doesn't stand still.
Today's world is not the world of
Constantine or that of medieval European
church-state society. Modern Germany is
quite different from the patchwork quilt of
kingdoms, duchies, etc., that made up
"Germany" at the start of the 19th century
when the industrial revolution began. The
integration of national economic interests
into a European community is proceeding
according to plan, and the European Union
finds itself increasingly challenged by the
economic realities of globalization.

To survive in today's economic climate,
companies have to be more flexible, service
oriented and responsive to the competition.
That competition often has its origins
beyond a country's own national borders,
especially for a country like Germany,
which generates approximately a third of
its GNP by its exports. The
Ladenschlussgesetz can inhibit German
competitiveness. A German company, unable
to use work shifts on all seven days of the
week, may have to compete with a foreign
company not subject to the legal
requirement to shut down on Sunday.

An earlier revision of the
Ladenschlussgesetz in 1994 recognized this
negative potential for German industry and
authorized exceptions to the Sunday work
prohibition. Local officials can approve
Sunday work when "competitiveness is
reduced unacceptably and the approval of
Sunday and holiday work will ensure
continued employment." In a global market
economy this situation may exist
practically anytime, and the Volkswagen
Company and one of its major suppliers
already have permission to work Sunday
shifts.

The last revision of the "store closing
law" in 1996 appears in retrospect to have
put the first crack in the dike of the
Sunday prohibition against work. Weekday
store closings until 8 p.m. were authorized
(previously 6:30 p.m.), Saturday closings
until 4 p.m. (previously 1 p.m.) and on
Sunday bakeries were allowed to open for
three hours in the morning to provide
Germans their beloved fresh rolls
("Brötchen") on the "seventh"
day of the week. At the time church officials
criticized the decision to allow bakeries
to open on Sunday. The Catholic archdiocese
of Hildesheim (near Hanover in northern
Germany) issued a clear statement
emphasizing the validity of the Ten
Commandments as a code of conduct and of
the "Third" Commandment in particular.

As might be expected, the Sunday store
openings in Berlin, Leipzig and two other
cities in eastern Germany drew mixed
responses. Shoppers and businessmen were
delighted; union officials and church
representatives voiced concern.

Germany's new President Johannes Rau,
son of a Baptist preacher and for many
years governor of Germany's most populous
state, voiced his opinion that Sunday was
not "any old day" and should not be made
into a day of "consumption and sales." The
chairman of the Lutheran church council in
Germany, Manfred Kock, referred to the
recent Sunday sales as "dancing around the
golden calf." Although not directly related
to the current conflict, it is interesting
to note last year's 111-page papal epistle
"Dies Domini" in which Pope John Paul II
admonished Catholic Christians to attend
mass on Sunday and avoid all activities
incompatible "with the sanctification of
Sunday."

For the time being, at least, the
work-on-Sunday conflict has been resolved
by court injunctions declaring "Never on
Sunday." The Kaufhof department store
remains closed on Sunday, but it and
hundreds of other businesses await the
outcome of a bill presented to Germany's
Bundesrat (the equivalent of the U.S.
Senate, representing the 16 German states)
by the city-state of Berlin.

The bill would change the "store closing
law" into a "store opening law" and
allow stores to be open Monday through Saturday
from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. Although the bill
does not deal directly with the issue of
Sunday work, the proposed expansion of
business hours is quite substantial and
– if passed as law – would
represent for many observers a further step
toward eventual liberalization of the
Sunday work prohibition.

In today's increasingly secular society
with declining moral influence from this
world's churches, it is difficult to
imagine how the European Union – and
in particular Germany, which accounts for
30 percent of the combined GNP of the 11
European Monetary Union (Euro) nations
– can remain competitive in the
global economy without full utilization of
Saturday as a regular day of work and at
least some liberalization of the Sunday
work prohibition that exists in Germany and
to a lesser degree in other EU
countries.

Prophetic
Implications

Would the introduction of Sunday work in
Germany change our overall prophetic
viewpoint? Not necessarily. First, let's
look at some background material that is
clear and then proceed from there to
possible implications, which may not be so
clearly defined in scripture.

God's prophet Daniel recorded a
remarkable prophecy in his interpretation
of Nebuchadnezzar's dream in Daniel 2. Even
modern biblical scholars recognize the
prophetic implications of Nebuchadnezzar's
dream, which gives us a "disclosure of
God's plan for the ages till the final
triumph of Christ" and "presents the
foreordained succession of world powers
that are to dominate the Near East till the
final victory of the Messiah in the last
days" (The Expositor's Bible
Commentary, Volume 7, pages 39,
46).

Without prior knowledge of its content,
Daniel explained the details of the dream
to Nebuchadnezzar: "You, O king, were
watching; and behold, a great image! This
great image, whose splendor was excellent,
stood before you; and its form was awesome.
This image's head was of fine gold, its
chest and arms of silver, its belly and
thighs of bronze, its legs of iron, its
feet partly of iron and partly of clay"
(Daniel 2:31-33).

Daniel told Nebuchadnezzar that his
Babylonian Empire was represented by the
head of gold (verses 37-38). The silver,
bronze, and iron and clay components of the
image, or statue, represented three
powerful empires that were to follow mighty
Babylon (verses 39-40). As confirmed by
modern biblical scholarship, Daniel's
interpretation, inspired by God, provided
an astounding preview of history by
presenting, in symbolic form, the sequence
of great empires that would dominate the
civilized world's political scene for
centuries.

"The silver empire was to be
Medo-Persia, which began with Cyrus the
Great, who conquered Babylon in
539…. This silver empire was supreme
in the Near and Middle East for about two
centuries" (The Expositor's Bible
Commentary, Volume 7, page 47).

"The bronze empire was the
Greco-Macedonian Empire established by
Alexander the Great…. The bronze
kingdom lasted for about 260 or 300 years
before it was supplanted by the fourth
kingdom" (ibid.).

"Iron connotes toughness and
ruthlessness and describes the Roman Empire
that reached its widest extent under the
reign of Trajan" A.D. 98-117 (ibid.).

The fourth empire was represented by the
lower portion of the image Daniel saw, from
the legs downward. Viewing the image
"chronologically," so to speak, from top to
bottom, the feet and 10 toes would be, in
chronological order, the last existing part
of the succession of empires that Daniel
saw.

Additional aspects of this succession of
world-ruling empires were revealed to
Daniel in a later dream. This time the four
empires were represented by four beasts: a
lion, a bear, a leopard and a fourth beast
described as "terrible" and unlike the
other three (Daniel 7:1-7).

Notice what verse 7 says about this
fourth creature: "After this I saw in the
night visions, and behold, a fourth beast,
dreadful and terrible, exceedingly strong.
It had huge iron teeth; it was devouring,
breaking in pieces, and trampling the
residue with its feet. It was different
from all the beasts that were before it,
and it had ten horns."

What is the meaning of the 10 horns? The
ultimate fulfillment of this part of the
prophecy is yet in our future. The 10 horns
appear to refer to an end-time federation
of 10 kings. This concurs fully with Daniel
2:44, which obviously indicates that the
second coming of Christ will occur at a
time during which vestiges of the fourth
beast, or kingdom, still exist: "And in the
days of these kings [the "toes" of the
image] the God of heaven will set up a
kingdom which shall never be destroyed; and
the kingdom shall not be left to other
people; it shall break in pieces and
consume all these kingdoms, and it shall
stand forever."

The book of Revelation predicts the same
event-with the same participants-that God
inspired Daniel to describe: "The ten horns
which you saw are ten kings who have
received no kingdom as yet, but they
receive authority for one hour as kings
with the beast. These are of one mind, and
they will give their power and authority to
the beast. These will make war with the
Lamb, and the Lamb will overcome them, for
He is Lord of lords and King of kings; and
those who are with Him are called, chosen,
and faithful" (Revelation 17:12-14).

Daniel's prophecies in their culmination
and Revelation 17 describe the same event:
an end-time federation of 10 kings. The 10
kings of Revelation 17, depicted as 10
"horns" (Revelation 17:3 and 12), are part
of a beast being ridden by a fallen woman
(verses 1 to 4) who is "drunk with the
blood of the saints and with the blood of
the martyrs of Jesus" (verse 6).

God's true Church is depicted as a
virtuous woman in scripture. A harlot or
fallen woman, by contrast, depicts a false
religious system: "Mystery, Babylon the
Great, the mother of harlots and of the
abominations of the earth" (Revelation
17:5). Bear in mind that a rider upon a
"beast" usually controls or directs the
"beast" upon which the rider is seated.

In Revelation 13 we see two beasts
depicted; one of them is able "to make war
with the saints and to overcome them"
(Revelation 13:7), and the other
masquerades "like a lamb," but in reality
speaks "like a dragon" (verse 11). This
second beast performs miracles (verses 13
and 14), and he "exercises all the
authority of the first beast" (verse 12).
The second beast of Revelation 13 is a
religious power, since it appears like a
lamb and works miracles, although in
reality it speaks like its actual source,
Satan! The fallen woman of Revelation is
drunk with the blood of the saints, and the
second beast of Revelation 13 uses the
power of the first beast of that chapter to
force people to worship the first beast
(Revelation 13:12).

In addition to forcing people to worship
the first beast of Revelation 13, the
second beast enforces a sign on the people
who refuse to worship the first beast: "He
[the second beast] causes all, both small
and great, rich and poor, free and slave,
to receive a mark on their right hand or on
their foreheads, and that no one may buy or
sell except one who has the mark or the
name of the beast, or the number of his
name" (Revelation 13:16-17).

The language used – "right hand"
[actions or behavior] and "forehead" [mind,
thoughts] – is identical to the
description God gave His people Israel in
the Old Testament to describe what His law
should be to them (Exodus 13:9; Deuteronomy
6:8).

Of all the points of God's spiritual
law, the Ten Commandments, the one that is
questioned or ignored most frequently is
the commandment involving the Sabbath,
which God intended to be a special sign for
His people (Exodus 31:13). In fact, the
Sabbath can be viewed as a test of a
person's willingness to be totally subject
to God's will for Christians.

(That is not to say the mark of the
beast and the sign of Sabbath keeping are
similar in all regards. The sign spoken of
in Exodus 31:13 is obedience to a
commandment – not a literal mark or
number. Working on the Sabbath may cause
one to receive the mark of the beast.)

In their interpretation of Revelation
13:16-17, some have thought that the
religious beast of Revelation 13 would
enforce Sunday worship as a counterfeit
Sabbath. Although this possibility cannot
be ignored or considered to be impossible,
enforcement of Sunday worship is not the
only possible cause for one to receive the
mark of the beast. The "mark" could be
enforced by preventing people from obeying
God and keeping His Sabbath, rather than by
forcing them to observe Sunday as a day of
rest and worship. Forcing people to work on
the Sabbath causes disobedience just as
much as forced Sunday-worship would
cause.

In a seven-day-a-week society with no
set "weekend" or day of rest, people would
work alternatingly in continuous shifts.
For many industrialists the opportunity to
use production equipment and assembly lines
with only occasional shutdowns for
maintenance would also increase
productivity and reduce production costs,
making their products more competitive in
today's "globalized economy".
For a relatively high-wage area like Europe, a
seven-day production week with workers
alternating their regular workweek of five
days would reduce overall costs and even
increase employment.

Although the reaction from church
officials in Germany to recent store
openings on Sunday was negative, churches
here have changed their positions on
various issues over the centuries. A
compromise with the "Third" Commandment
could be just as plausible as the German
church's position generally permitting
military service.

Either way, the mark of the beast is
coming, and Germany's debate on its
Ladenschlussgesetz is not yet over.

• Paul Kieffer, August 20, 1999

The
First Day of the Week? by Monica Kieffer

"Sunday, Monday, Tuesday..."
– The days of the week were posted on the wall
with Sunday at the top and Saturday at the
bottom. My colleague from Britain was
teaching her class of 3- to 6-year olds the
English names for the days of the week. We
work together here in Bonn, Germany, at a
school where children can learn English.
The majority of the children are
German.

She then asked the children, "What does
Sunday mean in German?" One child answered,
"Montag." The teacher said, "Montag means
Monday." The child began to argue with her
that Montag must mean Sunday because Montag
is the first day of the week and she had
Sunday at the top as the first day of the
week. The other children agreed.

This scenario made me realize how the
calendar change made in 1976 in Germany has
become ingrained in society. These are
children of parents who grew up with a
calendar that begins with Monday and ends
with Sunday. For them the "right" calendar
has Sunday as the last day of the week.

This experience also reminded me of
Daniel 7:25 in regards to the law passed in
1976 that changed the German calendar: "He
shall speak pompous words against the Most
High, shall persecute the saints of the
Most High, and shall intend to change times
and law. Then the saints shall be given
into his hand for a time and times and half
a time" (emphasis added).